In my Heart only You
by Cunegonde de Warenne
Summary: "Squalo-san is truly a very strong person, don't you think?" "Yes… yes he is." Dino replied with a rather nostalgic air. "He has always been…"
1. In my heart

My next fanfiction is kinda realistic, kinda... whatever. At frst i wanted to do sth very cute, then it became a little too realistic in my staste (it depresses me). I just hop you'll be okay w/ this

PLease enjoy! (Please read the manga before reading to avoid spoiler)

* * *

Everything started with a call. A single, very simple call. Something even someone as heartless as Xanxus Vongola would never forget for the rest of his life.

It was dinner time at the Varia mansion, and for once since months, everyone was back from their respective missions. Varia's dinner times are always fucking loud. An outsider would say that it looks like a night at the circus, more than anything else. Bel had thrown his lasagna to Levy, who riposted by throwing a fuming bowl of freshly served potage on the fake prince. A throw he miserably missed, unfortunately for Lussuria who received the whole shit on his brand new 300$ hair cut. No need to say no one bet much on Levy's life after that. Mammon be their witness, no one did.

And that was in the middle of that menagerie that Varia's second in command, Superbi Squalo was trying like every damn night to keep the others quiet or, at least, sitting on their fucking seat… More likely to make it easier for him to kick their asses if they stayed at the same place, even if only during the saying of graces.

That was at that moment the phone in the kitchen started ringing (phones weren't allowed in the dinner room, express order from the Boss). The flamboyant fag being too busy knocking the idiotic butt-licker to death, the shitty prince swinging on the chandelier above the table and the baby illusionist still counting her money, the silver trash was the only one who volunteered to pick it up. Like always. Squalo, the stupid spatz. Squalo, the big Boss' personal slave, and if they were short of it, Squalo the Varia's favorite scapegoat…

"They have one, they said." The stupid spatz, the personal slave and scapegoat said as he went back to his seat.

"One, what, Squ-chan?" Lussuria friendly asked, still while beating the shit out of Levy. Hidden behind a pile of juicy steaks, Xanxus was eavesdropping.

The silver haired scum shrugged and dug into his risotto. "A heart for my transplantation, seems like."

"Seems like?" Lussuria inquired in pure shock. To show how shocked the bespectacled man was, let's say the guy totally forgot about his hair still being all sticky because of the soup, which had had enough time to dry on his green hair. Now it was nothing more than some kind of modern sculpture, something between a Ghery and a Smith. Even the other trashes around (and above) the table silenced, now all focused on Squalo who, with the Boss, was the only one still dining.

"That call, that was from Shamal's private clinic." The silver trash uttered the most naturally in the world. "That's what I fucking say: they found a donor for the heart transplant. They want me to drop by tomorrow for some stupid preliminary tests ("Ushishi. Preliminaries.") or shit."

"Yes… well… congratulation, Squ-chan!"Although quite hesitantly, the Sun guardian tried to cheer up. "Everyone, say congratulation to Squ-chan!"

"Uuu."

Squalo only shrugged once more and asked for the dessert.

Well, his lack of reaction didn't surprise the raven at all. The Vongola family had the best network when it came to stuff like organ donors, human body traffics and so on. A normal citizen can wait for years to finally find a donor when someone from the family just have to pass a call and… well, no need to go into details. But in general, for example for Squalo's case, it never takes more than a month after said "phone call". So when he was announced he'd need a new heart, the trash only replied with a 'Ah, so.' And the case was closed. That was one thing about the swordsman. Because Squalo, like many other idiots in this world, was the kind of person who can see some suspect swelling on his shoulder and just say, 'that's nothing' and brush the question off. Or also the kind of guy who, with a 39°C fever, still can train till the end of the day without even noticing that his face had gone as red as a boiled crayfish.

And that was precisely something that was truly unnerving the raven. But he wasn't going to make a scene for such a little detail. At least, not in public.

"Hey, you stupid shitty shark. You're not gonna say anything else?" The Boss demanded in the swordsman's reserved training room, once the dinner over – that's Superbi Squalo: some people have impressive dressing full of shoes and clothes, garage full of expensive cars, other ones have their personal library or swimming pool… but Superbi Squalo has a 400 square meters soundproof training room inside the mansion. Some sort of basketball court, minus the hook, but with all the bleachers and even a gigantic screen on the wall.

"What? What do I have to say about what?" The long haired man shouted back at his Boss before grinning. Xanxus grimaced in disgust: he perfectly knew what was on the shark's mind. It was already past 11 p.m but for the swordsman, it was never too late for training. "Voi, Boss, you mind a little…"

"Get lost, you dumb shit."

"Vooi, why not?" The silver haired man whined. "It's rare for you to come here, so I thought-"

"Some shitty idiot like you don't have to think about anything."

Squalo pouted then used a towel to wipe the sweat from his bare chest ("Too many clothes are just hindrance when I move." The trash uses to say. So why not just walking in the street bare naked while you're on it, you dumb shit). Some strands of hair were sticking on his skin, now glowing damply under the spotlights. "Che. You don't have to be that rude. I just say it's been long since last time we had a match. That's all."

"I'm not here for any shitty game. At any case I'd burst your silly face within one second so what's the point ("Vooi…")." Xanxus went to sit on the bleacher then took a cigarette from a packet idly lying on a stack of messy clothes – clothes and packet that definitely belonged to the silver trash. But he stilled as he couldn't find the lighter.

"Stupid Boss. Stop stealing my stuff already." Squalo stated as he lit Xanxus' cigarette with the long sought-after lighter, which he always kept by himself precisely not to have the raven stealing it again (that would be the 12th one since school).

How many times had Xanxus seen the shark kneeling in front of him with his hair practically flowing on the floor, just like that day, lighting his cigarette, or pouring him a glass of costly whisky, or just rearranging his tie before a meeting? And how many times would the idiot still be able to do that after that stupid operation?

"That transplantation," Xanxus spoke out of the blue, "Forget it."

"Huuh? Why?"

Xanxus took a puff. He exhaled and paused a little. "The illusion the baby created to replace your heart, until now it worked well, didn't it? So what's the use of a fucking heart transplantation."

The silverette looked intently at his Boss. Hard to say how, but the tanned man's was pretty sure the second-in-command could quite understand the meaning behind his words.

The Varia could be experts in killing, torturing, using their box weapons to carry out the two first points, and stealing their coworkers stuff and cursing at each others, however when it came to something not included in their respective fields of expertise, they were, basically, as knowledgeable as kindergarteners. As a matter of fact, saving a human being's life without the help of their "superpowers", thus relying on traditional technology and medicine, wasn't something they would do on a daily basis.

In one swift look, Squalo could understand all of that.

"Because," He replied, "That's the best solution. Right after the battle with Jagger, I admit Mammon's illusion kinda saved the shit of me. But I can't count on that trick every time in the future. If, for any reason, Mammon finds herself unable to generate the illusion, I'm fucked. I'd be of no use for you nor for anyone else. A dead weight. And when that time comes, it'll be too late to think about surgery or shit. I won't let that kind of shit happen. Do you get that? From the beginning, it was only a temporary solution."

Xanxus humph-ed. "So you're okay on dying on a shitty operating table like a lowlife dog. Doesn't really suit your fucking pride shit." Squalo said nothing, he just frowned. Suddenly, Xanxus snapped. Just like a lightening, his hand extended to pull hard and painfully at the silver mane. Squalo let the lighter fall on the ground, wincing. "Shitty shark. You'd better not fucking think about that. Your life is mine. You're gonna lose it dying on the fucking battle field for me like a fucking good soldier, got that? Not because some fucking surgeons forgot some shit in your belly or whatsoever."

"Vooi, I got it. Now let got, dammit, that hurt!" The long haired man finally freed himself from the raven's grip. He glared at the latter before crouching down before his Boss. "Seriously, what's wrong with you, Xanxus? You're not even that bitchy when I botch a mission. Does your stomach hurt again? I already told you not to eat all those steaks. It's bad for your health." He caught sight of the time on his phone then quickly got up. "Che. Anyway I gotta go now. Gotta wake up early tomorrow. Fucking clinic is twenty kilometers from here. Shitty traffic jams till I get there-"

"I'll go with you."

Squalo, who had already his back to his Boss, slowly turned back, unsure whether what he heard was truly true or only the fruit of his dehydrated imagination.

"Ah?"

…

The three men were all sat in a small and rather humble office, eyes agonizingly aggressed by a flickering neon light.

"So, so, Squalo…" After a quarter of hour inspecting the shark's vitals, Shamal was leafing through his files, not casting a single sight to his patient, and for once actually looking like a real doctor.

At first sight, Shamal's new clinic wasn't the first place one would think about when it comes to heavy surgery – it's not even a place anyone would purposely go for treating a simple flu: the place was, as I said, very humble, well hidden in Palermo's suburbs. There wasn't even something one could honestly call a car park. A small waiting room was immediately overlooking Shamal's office. They had to wait for almost two hours before they were received inside, and meanwhile they had to put up with old women's gossip about their kids, about their giving birth, and even once or twice they saw a nurse leaving the office with a bowl full of blood.

Just how could anyone go to those kinds of places, the Varia boss simply couldn't tell. Squalo, on the other hand, was just sitting quietly, reading a magazine after another, ignoring a dreadful scream mixed with a hammering sound coming from upstairs. Nevertheless, there was no other choice but that place. That is, in spite of the gloomy aspect of it, that place was, against all odds, the hideout of one of the best clandestine surgeons of the world.

"So, so, Squalo…" Shamal mumbled again before looking up at the silverette, this time smiling. What an unnerving man. Do you know what the asshole said when the Vongola put him on charge of Squalo's surgery? 'A surgery? On one of you? What the heck did you do again… Anyway, I'm not moving for a guy. What, what's that, Hippocrates, just what the fuck's that… Oh. _Oooh_. So you were talking about Squalo. Of course, if it's him, it's okay. Send him here. I'd be glad to see him anytime.' Fucking pervert. "It looks like everything is pretty fine. No major disease, no organ dysfunction, perfect blood pressure (in spite of your work)."

"Yeah."

"Everything's okay, so why are still fucking here?" Xanxus' voice uselessly raised.

"But just one little remark." The pervert doctor tapped on the paper in his hand. "Your cigarette consumption. You should try to reduce it a little."

"You know, Shamal," Squalo uttered, "I say one packet a day, but that bastard Boss here is stealing most of them every day."

"And also coffee consumption."

"Ah, yeah. Ah, and one more thing. If I'm not wrong, I recall something like a grandfather or an uncle of mine died from something like a heart attack. Is that bad?"

Shamal spun on his chair. "Uhm… The risk does exist, then…" He hurriedly scribbled on the papers. "But it should be okay. Anyway you'll be given a suitable treatment to avoid the risk of reject."

"Ah, okay."

"Scum," the raven was talking to Shamal. "You're going to give a new heart to that trash? (He pointed at Squalo with his thumb)"

Shamal raised an eyebrow. "Well, yes. This is what we call an orthotopic procedure. The donor's heart had already been thoroughly inspected. Basically, it's fairly healthy and presents more or less the same proportions as the patient's, so we can without too much doubt completely replace it with the new one…"

"But it's still possible to keep the trash's heart inside. Without totally removing it."

Squalo furrowed at his Boss. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Technically," Shamal was explaining with a thick and almost uninterested air, "After Jagger's shot, Squalo's original heart had been badly hit. I understand keeping the original heart altogether with attaching a new one would increase the chance of recovery in case of rejection… But in our case, without Mammon's illusion, he'd have almost nothing left, do you get that, Xanxus? You've all seen the radios. There's no recovery to be expected anymore."

The raven grunted and crossed his arms. He was with no doubt in a bad mood, his personal slave could tell. "He'll have the first option." The silverette crudely stated. "So all I have to do is take the fucking medicines and leave?"

Shamal started a little, but he still was smiling. "Uhm, yeah. I'll just have you come back here next week for a checkup."

"Aa. Get the fuck up, Xanxus. I'm not waiting for fucking hours after those old hags again. Ah, thanks Shamal. See you next week, then."

"Yeah, bye." Shamal said, all beaming while watching the long haired man leaving his office, utterly ignoring the latter's Boss glaring at him.

As expected, waiting for the damn medicines took as long as the staying in the waiting room. And on top of everything, traffic jams were still waiting for them outside. Damned be rush hours.

"Fucking family cars and fucking kids." Xanxus was grumbling from the passenger seat (Squalo was the one driving). "Can't they just leave their shitty offspring rotting in boarding schools? Or they just won't understand how annoying they can be for normal people…"

"Voooi, stop fucking complaining, Xanxus!" Squalo roared. "You're the one who insisted on coming with me. So fucking _stop_ complaining about every little shit. Just what's fucking wrong with you since yesterday?"

The tanned man silenced, but not for long. "I've never heard about that sick relative of yours."

"Sick relative?" Squalo vaguely looked into the rearview. "Ah, that was just uncle Cristoforo. One funny guy. But we've never had to talk too much and he died when I was still in kindergarten so-"

"Squalo." The tanned man's voice was a little louder than before. "Have you even read about prognosis for that kind of surgery? You could die after ten years, seven or even only one year after the intervention."

The shark laughed and started the car. Before them, the traffic was gradually decongested. "For Lord's sake, I can't fucking believe you actually made some research about that. So that's why the light from your room still wasn't out when I passed that morning. You see, a stray bullet while I'm on a mission could also kill me tomorrow. I can't control the future. It's all relative, and we're in that kind of ugly job, too. No one can tell when nor where they're going to die. You can't tell whether it's your very last meal with you family, or if you'll still live long enough to play with your grandchildren and the children of your grandchildren. Xanxus, you more than anyone else should be aware of that fact." His expression unexpectedly turned serious. "But believe me, Xanxus. Yesterday, when I said it's the best solution for all of us, I wasn't joking. I'm not planning on relying on stranger's strength to serve you. If my fate is to die lamentably during a fucking operation, then so be it. This only means I hadn't been strong enough, that I hadn't been worthy enough to fight by your side – well, even if I think that would be a fucking lame ending for me. But so long as breath of life is in me, I'll fight for you. And I'll fight for our goals. It may not be on the battle field, even Shamal's shitty clinic is okay. I just want you not to forget my oath."

"Che. Presumptuous shark."

Nonetheless, never once before that instant did Xanxus feel the gap between both males' maturity. Let's be honest, the raven was scared ( _concerned_ ) of what might happen to his right hand man, whilst the shark trash was viewing all the matter like a mere formal transaction.

And also, let's be honest, never once before did Xanxus want to fuck his second in command as much as at that precise moment.

 **TBC**


	2. Conciliabules

Second part! Actually, it was supposezd to be attached to the first chapter, but i thought it was just too long so... here it is!

* * *

Finally, the terrible day of the surgery arrived.

At first, Squalo insisted on going alone. He said that it would just be a waste of time and personnel to have the rest of the Varia come as well. But Lussuria, who had no work to do at the moment, was adamant on following the silverette. Bel and Mammon followed as well, pretexting the same thing ("Voi, I fucking know you do have stuff to do. Go back to work already!")

But when they finally arrived, they saw with much surprise (for Squalo, annoyance) the Vongola brats already waiting for them in the clinic's anteroom. But not only them, Dino Cavallone and Romario were also there, and even Byakuran, altogether with other Millefiore members! The small room was completely crammed with people now.

"You kids are so sweet!" Lussuria beamed. "All of you just came here from Japan to support Squ-chan? ("I don't need those fucking brats around me. It's a fucking heart transplant, damnit. Not a Disneyland attraction.")"

"Of course!" Tsuna replied with enthusiasm. "Squalo-san can be very scary some times, but he sure had been a great help for us in the future."

Gokudera added, though with less fervor, let's say. "Yeah, that's what they call gratitude or stuff. But I'm more interested in the reason of Millefiore's presence here, aren't you?"

"It's sort of the same as you." It was Dino's turn to answer. The young man was trying to keep a brave face, but it was more that certain that without Romario being with him, he would have fainted. Since long. After all, that was his best friend he'd known for a decade whose life was on stake now. ("Voi, Haneuma, don't just go and dramatize all that shit on your own.") "In the future, Squalo has been the first one amongst the Vongola family to protect Uni. I think Byakuran and the others are somehow in the same position as you."

"How wonderful~" Bel was drooling on one of the few seats. "Squalo is soooo a wonderful person. A modern good Samaritan."

"Stop drooling. That's gross."

"I'm drooling on peasant's seats so it's okay~"

"Anyway, where did Squalo-san go?"

Gokudera scowled. "He stopped by quickly and immediately followed Shamal to the block. That guy really isn't into lengthy procedure. I just hope he's not like that with his patients too…"

What happened next had to prove the young Storm guardian was wrong.

After maybe one hour of waiting, Dino, who couldn't stay still in the waiting room, lastly went to hang in the corridor outside the block operatory. On his way, he met Levy, standing like a creepy statue in the dim light.

"Uhm… Hello?" The Bucking Horse greeted, with no reply. Weird, Dino thought, what was that guy doing there? He had never been very fond of Squalo in the first place… Ah, so that was the reason: Xanxus was already sitting there, right before the block's entrance, a cigarette between his lips despite the obvious no smoking sign stuck up next to his head. The blond waved his hand. "Hi, Xanxus! You know, here is a hospital…"

"What the fuck you're talking about, damn scum?"

Oh, the cigarette was out. "Sorry, my bad." Dusting off his coat, Dino Cavallone took place three seats away from the raven. "You've been here for long?"

"Yes." Yamamoto's voice startled the blond. Damn, that kid truly had one hell of an assassination teacher, if he could even hide his presence from the Cavallone Boss. Or did Dino just let his guard down? After all, the younger swordsman had been standing before them the whole time, picking through the small windows of the block's double doors. "We saw Dr. Shamal bringing him inside. Squalo looked rather calm."

"Oh, really."

"…"

Several minutes went by as silently as a funeral. Dino didn't know how long the surgery itself would take, but he was pretty sure they weren't even half way through it. How uncomforting. His nerves would ultimately break, he was damn sure about that.

Even though it wasn't even the first time he saw Squalo being hospitalized. With a deep bitterness, the Cavallone heir recalled that day, years ago, when he first set his eyes on a bleeding, heavily injured shark. With his left hand off. Back then, he threw his guts up and nearly fainted in Romario's arms. Not very manly, he agrees. But when the nurse asked for the swordsman's known relatives, Dino had to admit he absolutely knew none of them, so he had been the one taking care of all the formalities. Even when Squalo became part of the Varia, Dino always did. And when doctors would ask him what was exactly their kinship, the Cavallone would just shrug clumsily and answer: 'A distant cousin?' Fortunately, mafia doctors are never very nosy about those kinds of things.

However, Dino just couldn't lie about the fact that tagging along with Squalo for all those years _had_ made of him a stronger man – look, he hasn't fainted yet, has he? That was big improvement. Somehow, he wondered how far could have he gone if, instead of choosing Xanxus, the silverette chose him, eight years ago…

What an awkward situation though, the blond couldn't help but ponder with amusement. Here they were, the three of them. The best friend, the student and the Boss. Practically Squalo's three men in his life.

"Stupid horse. Stop smiling like a bloody idiot." Xanxus hissed at him. "What's so funny about having your shitty ass stuck in that fucking chair?"

"Nah, just wondering, Xanxus. Just wondering." Dino huffed a laugh. "About how we looked like when we were kids. And what would have happened if none of us had met Squalo."

"Well, I guess I'd be playing baseball right now." Takeshi was the first to reply. "But I wouldn't say it's what I truly wish for, now."

"Oh. That doesn't surprise me!" Dino chuckled again. "And Xanxus would be the same spoiled brat he had always been. As for me, I guess… Ah! Ah! I'd still peeing in my pants, locked in a locker somewhere. Did you know I was constantly bullied in school? It reminds me of Squalo's sooo disgusted air when he took me out of my gym locker. 'Stop fucking crying like a baby and act like a man, damnit!' he yelled. Ah! Ah!"

Dino stretched his legs then hid his face behind his folded arms. No good. It still wasn't good enough.

"If it wasn't for Squalo…" Yamamoto resumed, his voice quite shaking, however, unlike Dino, it wasn't utterly obvious to the two others. Only, he was clenching at his fist. The Haneuma couldn't say if it was from anger – though he couldn't imagine Yamamoto getting angry over anything – or if the boy was just as scared as him. "I'd be playing baseball in Namimori right now. The guys were talking about Koshien. It wasn't very serious, but some of us really believed in it. And then Squalo arrived at town and my life took a 180° turn. Now, everything I can think about is the last training session I had with him, and how he'd beat my face to a painful pulp if I didn't master a move by the next time we'd meet."

"Yeah, must be kinda tough, aren't they?" The blond joked. "Training with Squalo. Even for me I think I won't last till the end."

"Eh?" At last, Yamamoto Takeshi looked back at them, a questioning stare in his eyes. "I think it's sort of okay, actually." He finally smiled. "Being with Squalo is always a lot of fun, mostly when we're done with training. Did you know he's very good at making barbecues? Well, not a very complex one since we were still in the woods at that time, but it was super tasty."

Dino jumped on his seat, all excited for no particular reason. "Yeah, yeah! I've already tasted Squalo's special lost-in-forest barbecues. When we were still in middle school, we had that outing with our class, and Squalo and I got lost in the middle of the trip (I was totally on fault). Fortunately the woods were full of comestible stuff, but all alone I'm not sure I'd have made it in one piece. And I honestly have no idea how that guy did it, but by the end of the day, when I was all shivering in the dark (oh, wait, no, I think before he left Squalo lit a fire camp for me, but it was still damn cold), Squalo brought something like a giant dead wild boar on his shoulder. Ah! Ah! I asked him what the heck were we supposed to do with that, then he said, 'Eat it, you sissy cunt. What else?' I had been sick all the time he skinned the poor animal with his tiny knife, and I firmly vowed I wouldn't eat it… But one hour later, I was starving to death, and God only knows why the pieces of meat Squalo had put on the fire on simple wood stakes seemed so delicious, all of a sudden. Aah, I slept well that night. Help only arrived the next day. Squalo was sound asleep when they came, as if he wasn't waiting for them at all."

For the first time since he came in the clinic, Dino was sincerely bright and breezy. Seeing Yamamoto's thoughts diverted from the operation was also a good thing to see. No matter what, a kid should never have to witness someone they hold so dear on a surgical table, their chest wide open, with all the blood overflowing, the infernal beeping of the monitor, the dull pumping of the artificial respirator, and the discomforting, oh so discomforting smell of the anesthesia... Never.

The nausea was back again. Dino kept on talking to forget it.

"And you, Xanxus?" The raven glared at him as though he had absolutely no idea what the blond was asking. The latter heaved a sigh. "Forget it. For one second, I forgot who I was talking to. No way in freezing hell you'd go for a daytrip with anyone, wouldn't you?"

"… I did once." Xanxus' response came from nowhere. It was very likely the scary Mafia boss also needed to focus on something else but what was happening in the block, or so Dino believed. Somewhat. Come to t hink about it… it was surely the first time he saw Squalo getting hospitalized. Back at the Ring battle time, he was just too busy kicking the Vongola kids' ass with the rest of the Varia to care about his second in command's whereabouts. And Dino didn't even know if Squalo knew for his Boss' presence that day. But isn't that fine, anyway? "But not with all the other trashes." Xanxus added. "With the old man, when I still was a kid."

"Eeeh."

And even with that last attempt, they were now short of topics. Dino excused himself and went to fetch some juice cans from the waiting room, which was as noisy as when he left. When people asked him how the operation was doing, all he could do was smiling gawkily and left again.

Yamamoto welcomed his soda with a polite and cheerful smile, when Xanxus only grumped and questioned, "There's no booze?"

"Of course, there's not!" Dino replied, shocked. "This is a hospital, for Lord's sake!"

"Che. Useless scumbag."

"…" The Cavallone heir silently went back to his seat.

One hour went by. Two hours, then three… After the third hour, Dino somehow lost all sense of time. But isn't that what people say? The longer it takes, the better the outcome? Or was it the contrary?... Or was it about a trial deliberation again.

Tiresome. His butt was tired from seating for that long. Yamamoto couldn't stand still anymore. Now, he was pacing back and forth in the corridor. Next to him, Xanxus was sleeping – or was the raven's eyes only close, he couldn't tell. He was too tired to think about that.

"Now, guys!" Like this, like a blast of wind, Shamal unexpectedly rushed out from block, his surgical mask and cap still covering half of his face. The Cavallone had to rub his eyes to make sure they weren't playing a trick on him. Nope, Shamal was actually there, his green coat stained with blood and other weird liquids. "Hey, hey, wake up! I haven't slept a single second in there, you know."

"How is he?" Dino rose from his seat as they saw nurses pushing a bed with a soundly asleep silverette from the operatory block to the recovery room, right next to the first room.

"Fine. The operation went smoothly. He reacted nice to the previous treatment, too, so complication probabilities are very low… for now. We'll have to keep him here for further follow-up."

"How long?"

Shamal took off his mask. Even that laid-back womanizer kind of looked like he was worried, which wasn't good news at all, for no one. "Depends on his body's reaction to the transplant, really. Maybe two weeks, maybe more, maybe less. It's not an exact science…."

"Can we see him now?" Yamamoto inquired.

"Huh? Are you in your right mind?" Shamal scratched his head. "Right now, all Squalo needs is sleep, rest, and two bottles of morphine. He doesn't need to see your ugly faces. Still sleeping anyway. Come back tomorrow, but I don't promise he'll be awake."

"Oh… alright, then."

"Yeah…" Shamal yawned while leaving the corridor. "And I need to go for a rest too. That's my second heavy operation since this morning and another one is waiting for me this afternoon. You kid should go to sleep too…"

"I'll stay." Automatically, Dino said, then to the two others "And you?"

Without a world, Xanxus left the corridor, not even looking at the other men.

"I'll stay with you." Yamamoto proposed, only to meet Dino's non acquiescing look.

"You'd better leave now, too. You and Tsuna just arrived by plane today, didn't you? I can guess from the tiredness on your faces. No, you all go to sleep… You've booked a hotel? I'll have Romario cancel it. Just go to my place, you'd all be better there. Tonight, you can come here. I don't think there should be any problems till then… Ah, on your way out, can you tell him to buy me something to eat? Anything will do. Thanks."

Yamamoto bowed to him and left as well.

…

The next day, the recovery room was full of presents, flowers and other gifts from the whole families. Shamal specifically said it was totally useless since the patient himself still was unconscious, but no one cared. Flowers bouquets around his bed, 'get well soon' balloons floating around the window, chocolate and sweet cards waiting for him only to read on his bedside, this was the fairylike scene Dino had gradually got used to during his tour of duty. The Vongola kids – especially the Rain guardian – would drop by from time to time to help him, but he mainly was the only one to look after the swordsman.

"…Khh." A deep inhaling sound came from the other side of the room.

Oh, that's right. Him and Xanxus. The raven never warned before he came. That day, for example, he came in the middle of the night (if the Mafia boss wanted to come in, it's not like anyone could stop him from doing so anyway), this time bringing his own booze and own armchair, then just started drinking till dawn. Silent, almost motionless in the half-dimness. Only early that morning did he finally fell asleep.

Squalo still was on life support, and Dino couldn't count anymore how many infusions they had attached to left wrist (for a matter of convenience, they had the artificial hand detached from his left forearm). O+. 72 kg. 23 year old male. Those were written on his files. Even without reading them, the blond had learned them by heart after all those years.

Dino yawned. Mh? What was that sound? Someone knocking on the door?

"Uhm, excuse me?" a young and dark haired girl with an eyepatch hiding her right eye opened the door. "I'm sorry… I hope I'm not disturbing you. I thought I'd take your place…"

"Ah, thank you, Chrome-chan!" Dino smiled at the slightly blushing girl. "But I'm doing fine. It's okay."

However, Chrome didn't leave. She just closed the door after her and remained there, still, untroubled by Xanxus' light snoring. She was just watching intently at the silverette, as though she was trying to analyze even the simple fact of the latter's chest heaving and dropping, slowly, mournfully... "Squalo-san is truly a very strong person, don't you think?"

"Yes… yes he is." Dino replied with a rather nostalgic air. "He has always been… Oh, I almost forgot, Chrome. You're more or less in the same case as him, aren't you? I mean… Mukuro's illusion."

Dino was sure he wasn't being very tactful, but the young girl didn't take offense. She smiled at him. "Yes. But unlike Squalo, I can't go on living without Mukuro-san's illusions anymore."

"Oh."

"But even if I had Squalo's chance, I don't think I'd have the same courage as him… I don't think I can go through all of this anymore."

"Oh…"

In all honesty, Dino simply didn't know what to answer. However, you shouldn't blame him too much for that weakness: he'd been staying up for more than 24 hours. He didn't even know what was happening in his family anymore, all their affairs now left within Romario's hands.

"Ah, sorry! I'm sure I'm boring you with my old stories!" blushing again, Chrome apologetically bowed to Dino two or three times. "Look at the time! When was the last time you had some sleep? Please, Dino-san, let me replace you here, you won't have to worry about anything!"

The Cavallone heir yawned for the nth time. "It's okay, I tell you it's okay." His hand was waving like an attempt to apologize for his discourtesy. "And I'd rather stay here, in any case..."

"In any case?" If the silverette woke up while he was away, for instance. He didn't want Squalo's first sight to be his dead drunk boss sprawled in his throne-like armchair. "I know. Can you get me some coffee? And croissants, too. There's a vienoiserie shop, not far from here. I've asked my men to buy some this morning but they just can't choose the good ones. Please? Ah, there are guards outside, saw them? Just ask the money from them."

"O-okay…" Chrome was about to leave. "Are you sure you're really okay?"

"Yeah…" Dino stared for maybe one minute at the sleeping beauty. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little sleepy, but I've seen worse. Ne?"

After blushing again at the sight of Dino Cavallone's killer grin, Chrome left the room.

 **THE END**


End file.
